Tales of the Imperial Saints
As the fifth era had begun, Imperial influence was spread across the western continent. All but the south-east regions of the western realm had been integrated into the Imperial dominion. However, it wasn’t long till almost all in the two realms were drawn into the sphere of Imperial dominance.'' The success of the reforms by Emperor Sullus paved the road for future generations of the empire to dominate the many Kingdoms that enveloped the Imperial Heartland. With the internal peace that followed, trade between all the nations had grown tremendously, and the many lords began to prefer feudalism to the once popular mob rule widely used in the city-states.'' All seemed well for the Imperial Dynasty as conquest after conquest bolstered their coffers and advanced their military strength. By Year 549 F.E., the Empire had begun to peak as its cities reached populations in the millions. Slums began to build up and with them the many pesky beggars and thieves that haunt their streets. A faction of nobles contrived a plan for the cousin of Emperor Tullius to tacitly infect him with the plague and within only days he died in his chamber bed. The Pretender Julianus, however, failed to secure the necessary support, and his alliance quickly fell apart as ambitious lords began to assert themselves as heirs to the Imperial throne.'' If civil unrest alone was not enough to mark a turning point in the empire’s long line of imperial posterity, it was the First Grand Plague of Lar that brought them to their knees. Nearly 1 in 5 children had a chance of dying to the plague in their early youth, and while it only served to embolden His Majesty’s efforts in resolving the threat, the nobles of the realm began to lose faith in the emperor’s ability to solve the cities’ squalor. '' And so, the many lost souls of our loved ones were forgotten, and it followed that the traditions and ancient customs of our lands fell upon deaf ears. What was once seen as unifying words of hope were now taken with great pessimism, and the people began looking for answers to their sufferance.'' In a certain church was a thin, bigoted old deacon, married to the ancient teachings of Macadam and reluctant to embrace any new beliefs. Though reluctant to step outside the confounds of his monastery, the old deacon was one of those Early Romanists, more prudent in how they composed themselves as clergymen, that took it upon themselves to occasionally parse and peruse the town market, discussing the works of present-day theologians, basking in God’s greatest creation after that of the Universe and the Earth. It was on one of these walks that the deacon Sebastien reproached a group of men for their haggling of prostitutes. '' To his misfortune, the men he confronted were the bastard children of Sir Thomas Guntley, a cruel and arbitrary Lord known for his abusive attitude towards mistresses. Though the Romani faith was well-known at this time, there was very little respect for its followers as it was believed that the teachings abdicated for cowardice as Romanists were forbidden from taking the life of another man. Three of the men hoping to make light of the man’s principles charged at him and he was immediately overcome. They maliciously beat him, bruising his body top to bottom, to leave him in the town square for scared serfs to ignore him. Two days passed, and the deacon returned to the town in hopes of reclaiming his dignity. He was received in the Baron’s court with uproarious laughter and the court began to egg on the bastard Dikaiyos to give him another round. Sebastien had succumbed to his pride and ignored the voice in his head telling him to turn the other cheek. He fell into the whims of the crowd’s chants and found himself surrounded in a circle filled with cheering and screams. Knowing what he came there to do, Sebastien dredged up the sinister courage to stab the Baron’s son mid-fight, ending in a blood-filled night that ended with the old deacon and his priest being tied up and burned alive. He broke the most sacred of commandments and served as a lesson to all Romanists how violence is not the answer to how we should live together. From his example the Romanists have grown, but the resentment between Romanists and Pagans has not changed.'' The popularity of the stories shared by Romanist priests is apparent in how quickly the monks spread their faith having quickly reached every corner of the realms by the 6th Era. Many priests of this period were convinced that the chaos that had befallen them was the work of Rom, that without the conversion of these Pagans to the one, true God, they would surely be left in ruin.'' It came to be understood by many that to find deliverance in the afterlife required a lifetime of devotion to prayer and obedience to god, and that only by having faith that Rom, our True Lord and Savior, Mightiest Being of All Beings, Sun-God of the Cosmos, is the righteous shepherd of Man, and only through Him, the King eternal, can humanity hope to find salvation from their sins.'' ''